NASCAR driver William Byron is moonlighting at the Slinger Nationals to have fun, to learn and – obviously – to win

SLINGER – There’s nothing wrong with William Byron’s day job. Absolutely nothing.

Driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, the 24-year-old has won four times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including a personal best twice this season.

That’s professionally fulfilling and lucrative, a dream job for young stock car racers everywhere.

But this moonlighting thing is working out pretty well, too.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Byron said with a smile Monday as he followed his car through inspection before making his first practice laps at Slinger Speedway for the 43rd Slinger Nationals on Tuesday.

“Yeah, I obviously want to win, but I want to learn some stuff, have some fun and be competitive. That’s the biggest thing. It’s gone really well for us this year. This’ll be a big challenge. Never been here before. It’ll be a tough race. Lots of good competition.”

Regardless of the level of competition – and no one will argue it’s not stout – Byron’s “really well” description might be an understatement.

He won two of the three super late model starts he made in February at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, won at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway with the ARCA CRA Super Series and, at Hickory Motor Speedway with the Pro All Stars Series and the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway last month in Michigan.

The funny thing is, other than practice days like Monday on the high-banked Slinger quarter-mile, there’s not a lot Byron can do to get ready to race unfamiliar competitors at strange venues. Although he is accomplished in iRacing, there isn’t a similar local-track version of the hyper realistic digital racing platform.

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“Really just kind of talk to some of the local guys and just watch cars go around the track is the biggest thing,” Byron said.

“Until I get out there I don’t really know.”

The field for Tuesday night is one of the most impressive for an asphalt super late model race this season anywhere in the country.

In addition to recent NASCAR Hall of Fame selection Matt Kenseth, the record holder with eight Nationals titles, recent past winners Luke Fenhaus (2021) and Ty Majeski (2018, ’20) are entered.

Other barnstormers include West Coast standout Derek Thorn; Florida’s Stephen Nasse and Steve Dorer; Sammy Smith, a recent ARCA race winner from Iowa; and NASCAR Truck Series racers, Johnny Sauter and Derek Kraus, both Wisconsin natives, and Carson Hocevar of Michigan.

Past track champions include Steve Apel, who has won five; Dennis Prunty, also the 2015 Nationals winner; and Alex Prunty. ARCA Midwest Tour champion Casey Johnson has shown himself to be capable of winning anywhere; his victories include Father’s Day weekend at the Milwaukee Mile.

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Byron raced against a handful of Wisconsin drivers last summer while making Midwest Tour starts at Wisconsin International Raceway and Madison International Speedway, although he fell out with mechanical problems. He will total 10 super late model events this season with Wilson Motorsports.

Although super lates are much lighter and more nimble than the cars Byron drives for a living, he finds racing them to be beneficial.

“Anytime I’m in a race car is helping me get ready for the Cup car,” Byron said. “I feel like honestly the biggest thing I can do is continue to hone my skills and race. That’s what I notice. That’s what makes me better as a driver. That’s what it’s kind of all about.”

Whereas moonlighting once was frowned upon by some owners, Byron can thank Kyle Larson for softening up Rick Hendrick last year when he arrived at HMS. Larson had torn up the dirt tracks for most of a year while serving a NASCAR suspension and pointed out how much the seat time had helped.

“I definitely think he’s helped allow us all to race more, which has been great,” he said. “It’s been a big help being able to go out, go to all these different tracks. And a lot of fun. It’s a lot more fun than just thinking about (racing).”

Events such as these are helpful in another way for a driver such as Byron.

His rise was meteoric.  Byron went from iRacing to Legends cars at 15, raced one season of late models and then took the next four steps from the K&N East Series to Cup in four seasons. While he won K&N and Xfinity titles and was the top rookie in trucks and Cup, Byron wasn’t in any one place long enough to develop a grassroots fan base.

Short track racing has helped him connect with people in ways he otherwise wouldn’t.

“I see a lot more fans at the NASCAR track that are talking about, hey, I watched you race at Nashville or watched you race at Slinger – hopefully,” Byron said, “so it’s been a lot of fun to meet new people.”

And fun to learn.

And fun to win races.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NASCAR diver William Byron races Slinger Nationals for fun, experience